In a somewhat depressing yet inevitable development, Christian Bale confirmed to EW that he won’t be playing Batman in the probably fast-trackedJustice League movie. In the past, Bale has said he’d play Batman in Justice League if Chris Nolan did a fourth Dark Knight movie. Nolan wrapped up the story in three movies, and Dark Knight and Justice League screenwriter David Goyer said last month that they’ll need a new Batman.

Hearing it straight from Bale makes it feel more final, however. He told EW, “We were incredibly fortunate to get to make three [Batman films]. That’s enough. Let’s not get greedy.” Good luck getting Hollywood to set aside greed before something wears out its welcome. Grown Ups 2, in theaters now!

It seems the chance of Christian Bale being involved in any capacity in Justice League is nil.

“I have no information, no knowledge about anything. I’ve literally not had a conversation with a living soul. I understand that they may be making a Justice League movie, that’s it.” But he says he’s not sad to pass Batman’s cowl into new hands: “It’s a torch that should be handed from one actor to another. So I enjoy looking forward to what somebody else will come up with.” [EW]

We already made our suggestions about who could ably wield the torch (although Grumpy Cat would just use it to set everything ablaze). If Warner thinks our picks are too unconventional, they could always go with someone more familiar….

I expected this news was coming, but if the execs at Warner had any sense they would at least lob a call to the guy and see how much it would take. Say what you want about the growling and sometimes incoherent dialogue in TDK, but for me, Bale will always be the best Batman.

I don’t think that version of Batman is a good fit in a world with godlike aliens, an amazonian demigod, the fastest man alive, the king of the sea, and a space cop with a magic ring. I’m sure it will be weird getting a new Batman already but if they cast right it could be great.

Yeah I’m wondering if we are in for a terrible superhero movie here. It’s going to be a shock to move from the Bale era to a completely new Batman. The speed that the studios are moving on the JL thing is disconcerting (though logical). There’s a lot of room for error here.